diff --git a/lib/LicenseService.php b/lib/LicenseService.php
index 41b1604..c642186 100644
--- a/lib/LicenseService.php
+++ b/lib/LicenseService.php
@@ -164,12 +164,10 @@ class LicenseService {
             return self::$remote_api_url;
         }
 
-        if (file_exists(__DIR__ . '/../central_license_manager/index.php')) {
-            $detectedLocalUrl = self::detectLocalApiUrl();
-            self::$remote_api_url = $detectedLocalUrl !== '' ? $detectedLocalUrl : 'http://127.0.0.1/central_license_manager';
-            return self::$remote_api_url;
-        }
-
+        // Do not auto-switch to a bundled local license manager just because the module exists.
+        // Customer activation keys for this project are issued centrally from omanapp.cloud, so
+        // local/offline copies should keep using the central service unless an explicit project
+        // config or environment variable points somewhere else.
         self::$remote_api_url = 'https://omanapp.cloud/central_license_manager';
         return self::$remote_api_url;
     }
@@ -183,6 +181,27 @@ class LicenseService {
         return self::$api_secret;
     }
 
+    private static function buildActivationDebugContext() {
+        $identity = self::getClientIdentity();
+        $apiUrl = self::getApiUrl();
+        $slug = (string)($identity['app_slug'] ?? '');
+        $slugSource = (string)($identity['app_slug_source'] ?? 'unknown');
+        $name = (string)($identity['app_name'] ?? '');
+
+        $parts = [];
+        if ($apiUrl !== '') {
+            $parts[] = 'Activation server: ' . $apiUrl . '.';
+        }
+        if ($slug !== '') {
+            $parts[] = 'App slug sent: ' . $slug . ' (' . $slugSource . ').';
+        }
+        if ($name !== '') {
+            $parts[] = 'App name sent: ' . $name . '.';
+        }
+
+        return implode(' ', $parts);
+    }
+
     public static function sanitizeAppSlug($value, $allowEmpty = false) {
         $value = strtolower(trim((string)$value));
         $value = preg_replace('/[^a-z0-9]+/', '-', $value);
@@ -528,7 +547,19 @@ class LicenseService {
         ]);
 
         if (empty($response['success'])) {
-            return ['success' => false, 'error' => $response['error'] ?? 'Remote activation failed.'];
+            $error = trim((string)($response['error'] ?? 'Remote activation failed.'));
+            $needsContext = $error === ''
+                || stripos($error, 'Remote request failed') !== false
+                || stripos($error, 'Invalid response from remote server') !== false
+                || stripos($error, 'License does not belong to this app') !== false
+                || stripos($error, 'Invalid license key') !== false;
+
+            if ($needsContext) {
+                $error = rtrim($error !== '' ? $error : 'Remote activation failed.', '.');
+                $error .= '. ' . self::buildActivationDebugContext();
+            }
+
+            return ['success' => false, 'error' => $error !== '' ? $error : 'Remote activation failed.'];
         }
 
         require_once __DIR__ . '/../db/config.php';
@@ -623,20 +654,66 @@ class LicenseService {
             $url = rtrim($baseUrl, '/') . '/index.php?action=' . urlencode($action);
         }
 
-        $ch = curl_init($url);
-        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
-        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
-        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode($params));
-        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, ['Content-Type: application/json']);
-        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 10);
-        $resp = curl_exec($ch);
-        $http_code = (int)curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
-        $content_type = (string)curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_CONTENT_TYPE);
-        $curl_error = curl_error($ch);
-        curl_close($ch);
+        $payload = json_encode($params);
+        if ($payload === false) {
+            return ['success' => false, 'error' => 'Failed to encode remote activation payload.'];
+        }
+
+        $resp = false;
+        $http_code = 0;
+        $content_type = '';
+        $curl_error = '';
+
+        if (function_exists('curl_init')) {
+            $ch = curl_init($url);
+            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
+            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
+            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $payload);
+            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, ['Content-Type: application/json']);
+            curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 10);
+            $resp = curl_exec($ch);
+            $http_code = (int)curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
+            $content_type = (string)curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_CONTENT_TYPE);
+            $curl_error = curl_error($ch);
+            curl_close($ch);
+        } else {
+            $headers = [
+                'Content-Type: application/json',
+                'Content-Length: ' . strlen($payload),
+            ];
+
+            $context = stream_context_create([
+                'http' => [
+                    'method' => 'POST',
+                    'header' => implode("\r\n", $headers) . "\r\n",
+                    'content' => $payload,
+                    'timeout' => 10,
+                    'ignore_errors' => true,
+                ],
+            ]);
+
+            $resp = @file_get_contents($url, false, $context);
+            $streamHeaders = isset($http_response_header) && is_array($http_response_header) ? $http_response_header : [];
+
+            foreach ($streamHeaders as $headerLine) {
+                if (preg_match('#^HTTP/\S+\s+(\d{3})#i', (string)$headerLine, $matches)) {
+                    $http_code = (int)$matches[1];
+                }
+
+                if (stripos((string)$headerLine, 'Content-Type:') === 0) {
+                    $content_type = trim((string)substr((string)$headerLine, strlen('Content-Type:')));
+                }
+            }
+
+            if ($resp === false) {
+                $lastError = error_get_last();
+                $curl_error = trim((string)($lastError['message'] ?? 'HTTP stream transport failed.'));
+            }
+        }
 
         if ($resp === false) {
-            return ['success' => false, 'error' => 'Remote request failed: ' . $curl_error];
+            $networkError = $curl_error !== '' ? $curl_error : 'Unknown network error.';
+            return ['success' => false, 'error' => 'Remote request failed: ' . $networkError . ' URL: ' . $url];
         }
 
         $data = json_decode($resp, true);